Gallows Close

I am not familiar with the Realtrack version at all, however the EFE chassis is plastic and easily altered. The only modification the chassis was to remove the cab steps and cut down the valence. The floor of the chassis was thinned down by sanding at the former cab end so that the kinematic coupler could be glued on without being massively too high. The diecast seating section was cut in half for exactly the reasons you stated. There are three holes which need to correspond to the plastic chassis. The centre hole locates the seating section to the chassis, and the two outer holes are to mound the wheel assembly which in turn locate the pick-up springs on the silver pads on the PCB. After that electrical continuity was provided by connecting the two black wires from the 'new' cab end kinematic coupler to the PCB. This is the only mod to the electrics needed. I did this by drilling a hole through the PCB exactly on the track carrying the current and soldering it in place. Because the coupling is reversed at this end, then the wires need to be crossed over to avoid a short. One thing I will not do again is cut off the end of the PCB as I showed in the write up. Somewhere there is a fault which affect the interior lights on the middle car, so in time I'll swap it out for the spare complete one I have and see if that makes a difference. Best wishes, Chris.

I’d love to see how you did it. Please feel free to share it here. The cost is of course quite a thing to get over once the realization kicks in that you are going to hack to bits a perfectly good (and brand new) model. My rationale was that I wanted to do it with a Railtrack model but was unable because my order was too late, so this time I ws not prepared to miss out. It is still a bit mad, but the result justifies the initial risk. I’m very happy with how it came out. Best wishes, Chris.

Being ‘first’ is always a nice feeling, but it also paves the way for someone else to do it better. I hope you do. Best wishes, Chris

Thank you. The two driving cars have both axles powered. The centre car is unpowered, but through wired to collect current from the track for the two power cars. There is a Lokpilot v.5 in each of the powered cars. Best wishes, Chris.

Thank you very much. Best wishes, Chris.

Please see link to the write-up here. Best wishes, Chris.

Three Car Class 144 The three car class 144 sets were unique to West Yorkshire PTE. A batch of 23 two car trains were ordered for delivery in 1986, with the last ten of the batch subsequently lengthened to three cars by the addition of a powered coach inserted between the two outer cars during 1987. These additional coaches were designated Motor Second (MS). The MS is not available in ‘OO’ either from Realtrack or EFE rail, however to me it is an essential part of being able to successfully model the West Yorkshire rail scene. Here's what I did to make my own. The starting block was the purchase of two EFE Rail class 144 Pacers in WYPTE red. Firstly the ground rules:- · Minimal repainting – I wanted to preserve the factory paint job as much as possible · Decent performance – Having set up an EFE two car train to run very well, I decided that the three car version must have two powered cars so the MS could run be unpowered · All wheel pick-ups – Through wiring to allow all wheels to collect current · Retain lighting functions – Run the MS from one of the powered cars, and have the other powered car for traction only. The MS vehicle has two doors at each end of the vehicle and eight windows between them making the coach slightly longer overall than the driving cars. The underframe is identical, missing only the cab end steps. Even the distinctive valance is retained at the non-exhaust end. Cut lines were mapped out using tape. The intention here is to have a long part and a short part to make sure that the body side louvres and roof vents were retained in their correct positions on the coach. This meant cutting the short part with three bays (counting the roof panels as a guide) and the long end with seven bays. The cut was made beyond the splice point to allow for error and filing back for a nice flush join. The bus construction of the prototype helps a lot here as the rivet lines are very handy for making sure everything is square. Next the left-hand cab end doors need to be recovered from the two scrap cabs. The left-hand door must be used to make sure the ‘door open’ indicator light is in the correct place when spliced into the MS. The right-hand gangway end window can then be cut out of the two half coaches and the recovered doors spliced in at the right-hand end of each side of the MS. With the doors spliced in the MS body can be joined. File back the rough cut to make the rivet seam on the body side hide the join. I used a pair of window glazing pieces that were surplus inserted across the join to make sure the splice remained true whilst gluing, clamping and allowing 24hrs to set. The two missing door push buttons were recovered from one of the scrap cabs and thinned down before gluing in the correct position. The roof can be modified next. Remove the extra vent and fill in panel lines on the bay at the former toilet end. Here a compromise crept in. At the splice the overlap of the riveted roof panels changes direction – all in all it is not too noticeable. The roof was then painted with ‘Stock Roof Grey’ – the only real painting on the model. Turning to the chassis, the multi-pin coupler from the spare unpowered underframe was cut off and trimmed back to its housing. The underside of the coupler was then thinned down as far as possible, using a file with the same amount of plastic removed from top side of the MS underframe so that the coupling could be glued in place whilst not sitting too high. This has not gone entirely satisfactorily, as it is still a little higher than on the driving coach. There is however play in the system and the connection works as planned. Electrically the track connections need to be made to the new multi-pin coupler. These are the two black wires (top and bottom) on the extreme outer edge of the PCB. Right in the photo. These need to be crossed over to the multi pin in place from parallel as the coupler is effectively reversed at this point. At the other end the LEDs need to be cut off as they no longer serve a function. This must be done to the left of the silver pick-up pads beyond the red line. With that installed the floor panel can be cut. I opted to cut the floor panels almost exactly in half to preserve the screw mounting points for the wheel assembly and the floor securing screw to make sure they were on the same piece. This incidentally also sets the spacing for the coupler. Note the semi-circular bulge where the door step is, this fits perfectly over the screw holding the top cover on the coupling mechanism and gives the correct spacing to ensure close coupling. Nearly there now. Seats and partitions can be added before replacing the overhead light PCB. I blacked out the destination and cab LEDs with a dab of black paint, so that only the interior lights would show with F5 on and the directional destination and cab light would not light. Add transfers, numbering Finally, it can all be assembled again. Then on to the track. Just awaiting final numbering on the driving cars. Best wishes, Chris.

Planning a write up Will. I have taken step by step photos. I’m just finalizing a few bits on it and then I would like to publish it here. (If that is OK with the Mods) Best wishes, Chris.

Three Car version looks tasty.... 😝 Best wishes, Chris.

Metro - Here to get you there… Best wishes, Chris.

Second Generation Pairing

I have got all the running lights and destination working now. On the Lokpilot 5FX I needed to write a zero into CV 124 to unlock Aux 3 & 4 so they have a power output in place of a logic output. I still have no cab light, but when I reverted to DC with the blanking plug I didn't have one either. That was even after waving the wand madder than Sooty trying to persuade Sue to go to the Valentine's glove puppet ball..... Any ideas? By the way @McC @Accurascale Fran They are as everyone has said exquisite. Now how about a state of the art class 323..... Best wishes, Chris.

Received my TPE set from Dublin today, and I am absolutely delighted with them. Exquisite! A Quick question to the group (and I’ll be asking support@AS too). Has anyone set up the DVT with a Lokpilot v.5 FX at all? I am expecting to get more than just marker/tail lights and destination, but I must have something wrong. Headlights and cab light should work too? Best wishes, Chris.

Checking the wheel B2B's on remaining stock before dispatch.... Just a guess. That's what I'd be doing. Happy to continue waiting for my pre-ordered TPE set, especially if additional QAQC checks are happening in the background. Best wishes, Chris.

Good question. Luckily I have a loco - still waiting for my coaches to be despatched. ☹️ Best wishes, Chris.

6R97 Worksop Sorting Sidings to Goldthorpe Colliery

Fran, McC.... You guys need to stop sending out e-mails unless they are to do with Mk 5 coaches. Every time your sales department send out a new message I just about pee myself with excitement... Then... Oh! Only a Deltic 😆 Best wishes, Chris.

Every time an e-mail pops into my inbox I feel like Charlie Bucket..... Still waiting for my Golden Ticket...

Thanks Jon, There is an awful lot of modelling value in doing up old stuff, and I agree with all you say about the Dapol model. There wasn’t too much fundamentally wrong with it. if I recall there are 70 individual windows in all (including the cabs) and each took about 5 minutes to cut out, file to fit, edge the outside in black and pick out the hoppers in silver before gluing in with satin varnish. So almost six hours on the windows. I reckon the whole thing too about 60 hours in total. Best wishes, Chris.

Possibly the cost of living, sadly.

No. It’s not wrong.

I am a grown man.... Is it wrong to feel so excited..?

I’ve re-started driver training…… Best wishes, Chris.

One Ten

Please don’t! Work in progress. Best wishes, Chris.